literature kipling himalayan tibetan lama

Also, whenever 'magic' came into play within the story, I kind of cringed a bit as it seemed to be the greatest indication of stereotyping the 'mysterious and magical East'.There are also some spiritual aspects to the book, as presented through the lama and his peaceful quest. However, the fact remains that the British are clearly the good guys and colonialism is presented as, if not a good thing, then at least not a problem.

For example, the lama, who is seen as a holy man to all the native peoples around him, is seen as just another dirty beggar to the white men. In some cases, he also flips to show how Indians and the lama are perceived through the white man's lens.

In his favor though, Kipling seems to present most of the characters in multiple layers and to treat much of the events as entirely normal, while most Westerners would consider them strange. I'm sure there's a certain amount of Orientalizing and stereotyping going on, but not how much. Since Kipling grew up in India himself, it makes sense that he drew on his own experiences while writing. I don't know nearly enough about the intricate nature of India's many cultures to know where Kipling got it right and where he screwed it. This was a fun little romp that very much reminded me of the many adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, except on the roads of India instead of the riverside of the South. Together, as they walk the roads of India and meet many people, Kim also gets himself wrapped up in British espionage. When he meets a holy man, a lama on a quest to achieve enlightenment by bathing in a certain river, he is fascinated and decides to become the lama's apprentice. He's lived in the streets all his life, running amok just as the other Indian boys do, with little knowledge or care that he is white. Kim is an orphaned Irish boy, who has grown up under the care of an Indian woman. Then he gets involved in intelligence work with the British foreign service while accompanying an aged Tibetan lama.By all means read this book, and enjoy it. Kim's nickname is 'Friend of All the World', for he befriends all, but is taken in by none. What may be missed by Americans is that at the time, this was rather counter cultural of Kipling to make the hero an Irish lad. For the plot, Kim, an Irish solder's orphan (Kimball O'Hara), lives on the streets of India, passing as a Indian. There is no political correctness in the book: various cultures strengths and weaknesses are depicted and the English do not come out as the most noble of the group.

For the 21st century American reader, what is striking about Kim's tale is how little material benefits are considered valuable rather, it is the quality of one's work that is prized by the British and the Indians alike. It is a 'coming of age' yarn, with deep background on British ruled India, the relationships between various Indian cultures, and the ruling British. I also was more focused on plot than the descriptive sections.Forty years later I read it again and thought it was one of the best books I've read all year. I found it confusing and hard to understand: Kipling used dialect and a lot of Indian and British vocabulary. by ] I first read this book about 40 years ago in my teens. I must say that as a kid I enjoyed the adventure but now I enjoyed the details and having just read the Skull Mantra the difference in acceptance of Tibetan monks and the casual way in which the imperial system is accepted as being for the 'betterment' of the 'natives' is an interesting look into the past. His ability to be different people helps the situation immensely. But still this story of an Irish orphan being trained to do work for the powers that be as part of the Great Game played by people in order to manage the country. Yes it's a time when the British Raj were in charge in India and one of their major issues was the possible incursion of Russia or France (or Russia and France) from Afghanistan. Re-reading as an adult, and with more knowledge of the world changes my view a bit, though a lot of the issues I had were more to do with the era of the book rather than the actual story itself.Yes there are very few female characters of note. This is a book I read many years ago and enjoyed, and I think being a teenager helped my enjoyment.

Literature kipling himalayan tibetan lama